Wednesday, October 15, 2014

[138] MTSU helps bring history to community with special Oct. 18 speakers

MURFREESBORO — MTSU is helping to bring history
to the community during Rutherford County Heritage Month with a special public
event, “The Legacy of Stones River,” set Saturday, Oct. 18, at Murfreesboro’s
First Presbyterian Church.

With the
help of MTSU’s Department of History and the Public History Program, two
speakers will address the impact of the Civil War from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 18
at First Presbyterian, located at 210 N. Spring St. just off East Main Street
near Murfreesboro’s Public Square.

Erskine
Clarke, whose most recent book is “By the Rivers of Water,” will speak on"American Missionaries in West Africa,
Slavery and the Civil War” at 9:45 a.m.

Beginning
at 10:30 a.m., environmental historian Megan Kate Wilson, author of “Ruin
Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War,” will speak on "Among the
Ruins: Charles F. Morse and Civil War Destruction."

A
discussion and book signings with both speakers are scheduled from 11 a.m. to
noon.

“These
will be engaging talks about topics that have not been broadly addressed in the
past, and they illustrate some of the new directions Civil War studies are
taking,” said Dr. Rebecca Conard, a history professor at MTSU and director of
the university’s Public History Program.

Cost for
the event is $10 per person, which also includes a continental breakfast at 9
a.m. and a 1 p.m. lecture by a park ranger and guided tour at Stones River National
Battlefield.

The registration
deadline is Thursday, Oct. 16, for this event. You can register online at http://www.nps.gov/stri/planyourvisit/legacycurrent.htm
or in person at the battlefield’s visitor center bookstore, located at 3501 Old
Nashville Highway north of Murfreesboro.

In
addition to MTSU’s Department of History and the National Park Service, “The
Legacy of Stones River” is co-sponsored by the Friends of Stones River National
Battlefield, the Tennessee National Civil War Heritage Area and the Rutherford
County Convention and Visitors Bureau.